Uber’s new CEO may get at least $200mn to exit Expedia

Uber has offered Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, the Chief Executive Officer role at Uber. To woo him, Uber is offering him around $200 million. Executives are usually given a salary, with much of the compensation tied up in stock awards to motivate them to grow the company’s value and to stay in the job.

Khosrowshahi, who spent 12 years at the helm of Expedia, held unvested stock options in that company worth $184.4 million as of Friday’s close in New York, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Companies typically grant replacement awards to executives who must forfeit unvested equity when they leave before their employment terms have expired.

The ride-hailing company will likely also grant Khosrowshahi additional compensation, such as an annual salary and stock awards that vest over several years to ensure he remains on the job for the foreseeable future. That could push his total price tag north of $200 million.

Khosrowshahi will face a number of hurdles as he succeeds co-founder Travis Kalanick, who grew Uber into a $20 billion annual booking business last year before scandals forced him out. Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO Meg Whitman and General Electric Chairman Jeffrey Immelt were also candidates for the job but refused to get into the Uber’s muddy waters tarnished by a spate of lawsuits and controversies.